Question 1; Discuss at least three reasons why Mexican independence occurred specifically in the first quarter of the 19th century.
Several reasons contributed to the Mexican independence revolution of the 19th century, including the roles played by the different groups led by other people. Therefore, we can look into some of them in-depth to appreciate their roles in the shaping of current Mexico.
Napoleon’s occupation of Spain.
On February 16th, 1808, napoleon invaded Spanish America to send help to the French army occupying Portugal. In the process, napoleon began the peninsular war. They captured Pamplona, Barcelona, and eventually had King Charles iv of Spain renounce his kingship. Later on, they entered Madrid, and Napoleon’s brother Joseph was made king of Spain, sparking even more revolt against the French. Napoleon’s occupancy fueled the need for independence by the Mexicans due to the harsh treatment that was vested on the indigenous Mexicans. The occupancy had created a new political culture that the new nation based its fight for independence. However, it harbored two aspects: politicization and the other one militarization as ways of eliminating napoleon’s existence in Spanish America.
Racial inequality
Racism has always been an issue that lights fire whenever those who feel like they are being discriminated against decide to come up and fight. In the 19th century, race acted as one of the great stimulators that led to the rise of the revolution by people like Hidalgo and Allen. There existed the Indians, the Mexican-born Spaniards, indigenous Mexicans, mestizos, and the European natives. The groups had already found it hard to co-exist because of the issue of race superiority in the Spanish American by then. The European natives felt they deserved better, and since they were the ones with all the ruling power, the other races had to collabo with them or feel the pinch of being an inferior race in their own land. The revolution plan and fight for independence had for a long time excluded the indigenous Mexicans and the mestizos who were of mixed origins, but later on Miguel hidalgo during his call for arms also included the group among those he needed for their course to work out. The races had the feeling that for a long time they had been undermined by the natives, the Spanish and the royalist and also undermined themselves. At one point Miguel found himself in crossroads for teaching the Indians farming and farming methods whereas they weren’t entitled to such. Such kinds of oppressions and inequality also contributed to the rise of the resistance and call for independence.
Manpower
Initially Miguel hidalgo and his team had not engaged the indigenous Mexicans and the mestizos which meant they didn’t have enough man power to pursue their course of fighting for independence. But, later on when he called the two groups on board he was able to have enough manpower to initiate an impromptu call on resistance after their plan was revealed during a confession by one of them. Though the revolution led to a very terrible blood bath, in the end the message was passed that independence was needed. Hidalgo himself fled away to the north where he was later captured and executed in Chihuahua by the armed forces. Even though hidalgo was gone, others took over his fight and turned it into the Mexican war of independence. They include Jose Maria, Mariano Matamoros and Vicente Guerrero. The trio led large armies of many indigenous and racially mixed groups against the Spanish royalist who were majorly oppressing and denying them their rights.
The royalist forces
The cry of Dolores by Miguel hidalgo was all against the royalist forces who were on the side of the French. The forces apparently comprised of Spanish, Mexicans and conservatives of other descents. In the year 1820 the government that came into existence wanted reforms that would enable them to rule in peace. As a result of that need the conservative Mexicans proposed a deal with the Mexican revolutionists and also independence so they could regain their privileges in the Mexican society. In 1821, Agusti de iturbid made negotiations with Vicente Guerrero and came up with the Plan of Iguala. The plan established Mexico as an independent constitutional monarch. Under the new plan the catholic church was to regain its privileges with the Mexicans of Spanish descent being equalized with the pure Spaniards. On the other hand, the mixed Mexicans and the Indians were to have lesser rights. In 1822, iturbid became the emperor of the Mexican monarch but was ousted in 1823 and Mexico became a republic with its first president being Guadalupe Victoria.
Question 2: Discuss how issues of class and ethnicity/race affected the process of Mexican independence.
People do not group themselves into categories such as race, ethnicity, and class but they are rather placed into this classes by the laws and policies that put them in the position of being relevant socially and politically to be able to shape their lives.
The issue of class and what race one originated from played a greater role in impacting the independence process in the sense that we had the races who were comfortable with the regime that was reigning at that time, while at the same time we had the ones who were not comfortable with the way they were being ruled. The pre-independence Mexico comprised of several ethnical groups who were the criollos or the Mexican born Spaniards, the indigenous Mexicans, the mestizos who were those with mixed ethnical backgrounds, there was also the Spanish royalty, the native Europeans were also existent, we had the Spaniards also known as the gachupines and finally the Indians.
The Spanish royalty and the European natives were the ruling class that was in charge of the Spanish American region at the time. They enjoyed several privileges together with the catholic church that was considered of that class. The main role of this class of people was to ensure that those below them adhered to the set protocols by the French government which was being run by napoleon. The church was mainly responsible for disseminating literature via doctrines and only those kind of literature that were prescribed to those of the low class. This was mainly to ensure they didn’t know much that would lead to uprisings. However, at a later stage we had members of the church such as Miguel hidalgo who started questioning some of the aspects of the church and its doing. Miguel was one of the masterminds of the Mexican revolution in the 19th century since he was the one who called the “cry of drolos” which started as series of blood bath and paved way for the Mexican war for independence. Hidalgo is celebrated as the father of Mexican independence to date for his heroism. It shall be membered that he went out of his class to teach the Indians who were considered of a lower class how to farm yet he wasn’t supposed. The church’s role in the Mexican independence can be realized through Hidalgo.
The class of Spanish royalty was comprised of the Spanish, Mexicans and conservatives who were in support of the regime that was in place. Their role was that of combating the lower class to ensure they didn’t at any point start uprisings. The group had armies and resources to ensure they kept the agenda of the French government in place. Their leader Agusti was one of the people who later came to bring full independence to Mexico. Agusti negotiated the plan of Iguala together with Vicente Guerrero who was leading the Mexican revolutionaries. The conservative class by then wanted their privileges retained at the price of making Mexico an independent monarch. Agusti managed to defeat the opposing section of the royalties who didn’t vouch for the independence of Mexico and when the viceroy had no resources back or fourth he had no option but to guarantee the request by Agusti that saw Mexico become an independent monarch. later when they lacked an emperor he became one until later in 1823 when he lost his power to Victoria Guadalupe who became the first president of Mexico.
The Mexican born Spaniards were the main force behind the Mexican revolution for independence. Miguel hidalgo was one of them. This class was responsible for the planning and initiating of the initial phase of revolution. At a later stage they engaged the indigenous Mexicans and the mestizos. Each ethnical group provided the needs manpower that contributed to the large barmy pf men who shed their blood for the revolution of Mexico. The Indians were also not left out as they also took part in the process. Eventually, the issue of class and race still came in picture when the Mexicans born Spaniards advocated for equal privileges with the gapuchines but wanted the Indians to remain at a lower class with less privileges on them.